#66 team scrambles to get Vegas car ready: NASCAR cut Prism Motorsports a break when it adjusted its post-race inspection procedure after last weekend's Fontana race to enable Phil Parsons' impounded "random post-race inspection" car -- the #66 Toyota driven by Dave Blaney -- to be checked Thursday afternoon and Friday morning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway rather than taking the car back to NASCAR's R&D facility in Concord, N.C. "They really went out of their way to help us by sending their guys in [Thursday] to start the inspection process -- they didn't have to do it," Parsons said with a relieved wave of his hand. "I really appreciate them working with us and doing that. I understand being the random [car]. We may have overachieved at [Fontana] by qualifying fifth -- I don't know if we expected it, never mind anyone else. But I've been in this thing my whole life and all we ever ask is a level playing field. And [NASCAR] does all they can to ensure it's a level playing field -- they're the umpires. We know we have to qualify into the field on time, just like the other nine cars that are here, and if they need to make sure the playing field is level for anybody, it's those 10 [go-or-go-home cars]."
"Following last Sunday's race at Auto Club Speedway, as we do after each NASCAR Cup Series race weekend, we impounded two cars -- the race winner and a random selection," said Kerry Tharp, NASCAR director of communications, competition. "The #48 car was the race winner and the #66 car was the random selection. Due to West Coast travel and logistics, we [inspected] the 66 car prior to practice at Las Vegas. The 48 car will come back to the R&D Center and be inspected early next week."
In a tough economic climate, Prism is short-staffed and financially challenged. While the team proved its mettle in 2009 by sending a car to every event, with its last-minute decision to field two cars this season, Prism only has two complete cars -- one for each team -- with a mostly-complete backup on each hauler. While trying to accrue enough sponsorship backing to be able to afford to race complete events, Prism does a "start and park" strategy to offset the sizeable expense of traveling to and attempting to qualify for Cup races.
"We really appreciate all the hard work by all our guys this week," Parsons said. "It was a great job [Friday] by all of them." But Parsons wouldn't short sell what NASCAR and its inspectors had done, along with engine builder Terry Elledge from Pro Motor, Mark Smith's partner who Parsons said was the head of the company's Toyota program, turned around a complete backup engine for Blaney's car, plus a carburetor and intake manifold that were intended as the former backup engine's primary pieces, which weren't needed when NASCAR bent over backwards. "NASCAR actually came in here [Thursday] and let us take the engine out of the [Fontana] car so it could be inspected, and let us take some of the pieces that we needed to put in the backup car -- so they did us a favor," Parsons said. "They actually came in early to do that, they unloaded it and we took the motor out so they could inspect it. They finished it [Friday], doing the body, the rear end housing and the rest of it. If we'd have been on the East Coast, all this would have been done at the R&D Center on the Tuesday after the race."
The newly-assembled "Vegas primary" was in the inspection line at Las Vegas on time Friday morning and went out for the first of its 10 laps in pre-qualifying practice about 15 minutes into the 90-minute practice.(in part from NASCAR.com)(2-28-2010)

NASCAR confiscates the #66 car: watching start-and-parkers? UPDATE: When Dave Blaney headed to the garage in his #66 Prism Motorsports Toyota after 43 laps [at Auto Club Speedway], NASCAR officials were waiting. Three laps earlier, #55-Michael McDowell drove the other Prism Motorsports car to the garage. The final race report concluded that both cars had engine failures. So why did the sanctioning body confiscate the #66 car? "Because they can," said Bill Henderson, crew chief of the #66 team and general manager for Prism Motorsports.
Henderson, who has just two cars for the team, was told the car will not be returned until next Saturday — long after qualifying is over. However, the primary car has the basics of racing — swaybar, shocks and springs — that the team simply can't afford to duplicate on the backup car. Without those necessities, Henderson will not be able to race. Sprint Cup Series director John Darby said he hopes to perform the inspection at Las Vegas in order to return the car to the team in a timely fashion, but that's hardly a guarantee.
Which begs the question: Is NASCAR attempting to send the message to "start and park" teams — those that enter a race primarily to collect a check and don't always try to finish — not to stink up their show? Prism Motorsports wasn't the only team that ended their day prematurely Sunday at Fontana.
Joe Nemechek initially parked his car on Lap 27 then mysteriously returned to the track a short time later and ran an additional 27 laps before a "rear gear" failed. Boris Said also went into the garage early, came back out, and then disappeared. Even Aric Almirola, who was driving the #09 Phoenix Racing entry that won at Talladega last year, ended up in the garage after 34 laps with an engine failure.
"It's one thing to try to race each week," said the manager of a team that generally finishes among the 40-somethings who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "But I think doing two (teams) to get a check isn't going to sit very well with NASCAR." Prism Motorsports pocketed $160,070 for Sunday's combined effort of 83 laps. #17-Matt Kenseth, who finished seventh, ran the full 500 miles and earned a $161,696 pay day.
Darby said choosing the #66 Toyota as "the random" car was part of "the normal inspection procedure. That particular car stood out given that Blaney qualified fifth and led three laps. "The 'randomness' of inspection covers everyone in the field," Darby said. "The 66 was a car that was very competitive. Yes, he was outside of the top 35, but he was the fastest of the group. He was fifth overall qualifying and he led the race today. We've got to make sure that as we fulfill our responsibility to our competitors to make sure that everyone is playing with the same rulebook and adhering to the same rules — and that means everybody. That car deserves a look at to make sure it's up to start." Darby said the sanctioning body cannot try to "outguess the teams" to determine who the start-and-park cars are every weekend.(FoxSports)(2-22-2010)
UPDATE: Phil Parsons didn't take it personally or consider it a message to start-and-park teams when NASCAR impounded the #66 driven by Dave Blaney following Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway. He took it as a compliment. Had Blaney not qualified fifth, led three laps and run in the top 10 for a while before parking 43 laps into the 250-lap event, Parsons doesn't believe the car would have been a random selection for a full teardown. "If I am them and they are me and they qualified fifth, I may want a little extra look at that car,'' said Parsons, the owner of Prism Motorsports that fields the #66 and #55 of Michael McDowell. "We're fairly new and haven't been around that much. There aren't many relatively new teams that are able to do stuff like that. We may be a victim of our own success.'' Some might question success. Both Prism cars parked early Sunday, saving the engines and other parts for this week's race at Las Vegas. Like it or not, that's the business model some owners have to follow until the economy lightens its grip around the sport. Parsons understands it could gives owners like him a bad name. He also understands that he's doing everything he can to stay in the sport. "We try to race when we have money to race,'' said Parsons, who formed an alliance just before the season to get cars from Michael Waltrip Racing. "We raced Daytona the week before and [McDowell] broke a drive shaft with five laps to go. We're out there in the market place. It's just been very difficult to raise money.'' Bottom line, when the cars are sponsored Parsons will race them. When they are not he'll likely park them unless he's made enough money from days like Sunday to take a chance. "The economics of the thing, the additional cost for an engine, to use the engine for all 500 miles and the amount of tires that it takes to run the rest of the race ... it could be astronomical,'' Parsons said. "We're all racers. I know how hard it is for Dave. But we also want to race next week. We have to try to be smart and do what we can with what we have. I'm trying to build this thing. Hopefully, deals like Dave Blaney qualifying fifth opens some eyes.'' There are some who believe Parsons is throwing the whole start-and-park philosophy in NASCAR's face by doing it with two cars, and that NASCAR tossed it back by impounding the 66. That means Blaney, who only had two cars to start with, will have to qualify his backup at Las Vegas unless NASCAR is able to complete its inspection in Vegas in time. That likely won't happen. What makes this difficult on the 66 team is the backup won't be nearly as equal to the primary as might be the case on large, well-established teams.(in part from ESPN)(2-22-2010)

Prism Motorsports Announces 2010 plans: The Daytona 500 weekend will mark a historic weekend for PRISM Motorsports. For the first time in the team’s history, they will enter two cars for a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event. Dave Blaney will return to the track in the #66 Toyota, and the #55 PRISM Motorsports Toyota will make its debut with Michael McDowell behind the wheel. The team is actively pursuing sponsorship opportunities, and will compete full-time with two cars throughout the entire 2010 season. “We have a tremendous relationship and alliance with MWR that allowed us to purchase the cars and equipment we needed to grow our program,” said Phil Parsons, co-owner of PRISM Motorsports. “Randy [Humphrey] and I believe the economies of scale of running two cars are very beneficial for our program and will help us have continued success in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. However, to continue to race competitively throughout the season, we need to find a quality sponsor that can help drive the success of PRISM Motorsports. Randy and I are extremely excited to have a driver of Michael McDowell’s caliber joining Dave Blaney, and we are excited about continuing our technical alliance with MWR. We believe that we have the right programs and staff in place to lead PRISM Motorsports to success in the Sprint Cup Series.”(PRISM Motorsports)(2-10-2010)

McDowell to run full season UPDATE: per Michael McDowell's Facebook page - Michael McDowell has signed with Prism Motorsports to run full time in the Sprint Cup Series in the #55 car. It was posted recently that Dave Blaney would return to Prism Motorsports to run the #66 car full-time in 2010 and McDowell would run some races in a 2nd car. The #66 Prism Motorsports team attempted all 36 Sprint Cup Series races in 2010, with Terry Labonte in the Daytona 500, Blaney in 34 races and McDowell at Talladega in April when Blaney had a family obligation. No word on a sponsor or crew chief.(2-1-2010)
UPDATE: Phil Parsons and Randy Humphrey's Prism Motorsports, which kicked off 2009 with a guaranteed start in the Daytona 500 and ran a single Toyota for the full schedule, will attempt to run two cars all season in 2010. Parsons confirmed Tuesday that Prism had entered a #55 Toyota for Michael McDowell, with debuting Cup crew chief Zach McGowan and a #66 Toyota for veteran Dave Blaney, again with Bill Henderson leading the crew. "We're going to race those things in," Parsons said. "We have our same alliance with MWR [Michael Waltrip Racing] that we did last year. We're going to attempt every race. We've been talking about the second car, and we solidified it in the last few weeks [because] if you're going to go anywhere and take a shot at getting in, that's the one to do it because the rewards are so great. We really don't have any sponsorship. We thought we were really close to having something for Dave for [Speedweeks], and it turned out they went a different direction at the 11th hour. We're still actively pursuing everything we can pursue; we have some good conversations going, but nothing imminent." Engines will be supplied by Pro Motor, built by Mark Smith and Terry Elledge, the father of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing crew chief Jimmy Elledge and a Parsons associate for 30 years.(NASCAR.com)(2-3-2010)

Blaney back with Prism, McDowell too: Dave Blaney will remain driver of the #66 Toyota with the Prism Motorsports team owned by Phil Parsons and Randy Humphrey even though he was a start and park driver in 29 of his 30 races for the team in 2009. The teamt is adding a second car to be driven by Michael McDowell, Parsons said Friday as he and Humphrey try to find an economic model that will allow Blaney to race this year. “Dave is our guy,” Parsons said. “We didn’t want to be a start and park last year. But we’re trying to build something for the future and that’s what we had to do to survive without sponsorship. We want to race this year. We’re talking to people about sponsorship but don’t have anything yet. We hope to have the money from the outside that will let Dave race. But if we don’t, we want to be able to do it ourselves. And having the second car is part of that.” Blaney said he talked to some other teams. “I talked to a couple of other small teams like Phil but this turned to be the best,” Blaney said. “Phil’s trying to get something established and they are heading in the right direction.” He said that he inquired about the [#49] BAM Racing ride and had not taken a look into an opportunity with Vermont businessman Bill Jenkins, who has purchased Roush Fenway Racing’s #26 team. “I talked to the BAM people at Homestead in November but I never heard anything from them, so I don’t know what they are doing,” Blaney said. “I don’t know anything about that new team but I would imagine that will go to one of the drivers associated with Roush." Parsons said that no matter the circumstances, Blaney will race the full distance in the Daytona 500 if he qualifies. “Daytona pays enough purse that you can afford to race,” Parsons said. “We’ve got to concentrate on going down there and racing our way in.”(High Point Enterprise)(1-18-2010)

Blaney's plans up in the air for 2010, Prism not returning? a few weeks old, but lack of money continues to be the bane for Dave Blaney, who sputtered through the 2009 Sprint Cup season with an under-funded #66 Prism Motorsports team. For the past 11 months, the Hartford native started in 30 of the season’s 36 races [Blaney attempted 34 of the races in the #66 Toyota, Terry Labonte ran the Daytona 500 and McDowell attempted Talladega in April] and handled the start-and-park gimmick as best he could to earn $2,343,060. At age 47, Blaney isn’t ready to put the brakes on his career, but he’s looking less like a NASCAR driver and more like a NASCAR dad everyday. “In Sprint Cup, especially, there’s not going to be any really good opportunities down the road,” said Blaney. “I’m old enough where it’s just not going to happen. So, we’ll run what we can and see what happens. But Ryan’s got a future, possibly, in racing, so we’ll see if we can help him and see how it goes,” Blaney said of his son, who most recently ran stock cars in North Carolina this past summer and ran well. Ryan Blaney turns 16 at the end of December and the likelihood of Dave grooming the son instead of pushing himself is real. “At the moment, I’m trying to help Ryan get going more than I’m worried more about my stuff, honestly, so I’ll do what I can do to help him first, then worry about me. From what I’ve seen of Ryan so far in the past few years, I think the sky’s the limit, potential-wise.” Although two months remain before the Sprint Cup’s 2010 season kicks off, Dave Blaney sees little movement in potential rides for himself. “There’s not much there, not much going on,” Blaney said, chuckling after being asked about the new season. “I don’t have anything other than the same stuff I was doing in 2009 — the start and park thing.” He rode for Prism Motorsports in 2009, but, although Prism still exists, it doesn’t have a budget for fulltime racing. He said there are some other opportunities, but nothing better. “I thought I was close to a 6-8 race schedule with one of those [Nationwide] teams, but that’s still up on the air as well,” Blaney said. “I’d run any of the series — trucks, Nationwide — whatever could be put together if it’s a pretty competitive team. It would all be fun to do, but there’s no sponsorship right now anywhere, so all the teams are struggling to stay alive.” Blaney insists that he’ll be racing in some form in 2010, even if it’s a smorgasbord.(in part from The Vindicator)(1-10-2010)

Blaney upbeat about future: #66-Dave Blaney's NASCAR Sprint Cup season has been tumultuous, so to speak. The Hartford native, who drives for Prism Motorsports, has competed in 15 of the 18 Cup races. He has a completion percentage of 16.9 percent, starts with an average of 32.2 and finishes with an average of 40.7. He's accumulated $1,161,200 in winnings heading into this weekend's race in Chicago. "In my case, all you can do is stay in the car, stay at the racetrack and do all you can do," Blaney said prior to Tuesday's Lou Blaney Memorial Classic. "The first few weeks, it was a really hard thing to do. You kind of resign yourself to that's what it is." Blaney finished only one race this season, the Coca-Cola 600. In the other races, Blaney and his team dealt with "star and park" status, in which some drivers finish early to preserve their cars at the first sign of mechanical problems, such as vibration or transmission, because they are unable to pit for repairs. It's a matter of economics. "Hopefully, an opportunity comes along in either of the other series or in the Cup series or my team gathers a little sponsorship along the way and it starts building up," Blaney said. "It's hard thing, but at the moment, it was the best option."(Warren Tribune Chronicle)(7-9-2009)

McDowell replaces Blaney UPDATE: the updated entry list for the Aarons 499 at Talladega Superspeedway shows Michael McDowell now driving the #66 Prism Motorsports Toyota for owner Phil Parsons and not Dave Blaney, who has ran six races for the team in 2009. No word if this is a permanent move or just for Talladega. See my Talladega Entry page. McDowell ran in 20 Sprint Cup races in the #00 Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2008 with a best finish of 18th at Darlington.(4-21-2009)
UPDATE: Michael McDowell will replace Dave Blaney in the Prism Motorsports entry in this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway for what McDowell says is only a one-race deal. Prism Motorsports has attempted eight races and qualified for seven, with Terry Labonte using a past champion’s provisional for Daytona and then Blaney qualifying on speed for six of the next seven events. McDowell will have to qualify on speed for the Talladega race because the team, which is owned by Phil Parsons, is outside the top 35 in owner points that are guaranteed starting spots. “Phil Parsons called and asked if I would like to run Talladega for him,” McDowell said in a statement. “Dave Blaney has been doing a great job but had a family obligation, and I am only stepping in for the weekend.” McDowell competed in 20 Cup events last year with Michael Waltrip Racing and is driving this season in the Nationwide Series for JTG Daugherty Racing. He finished 24th in the Cup race at Talladega a year ago.(SceneDaily)(4-23-2010)